Preface

So: you're a relatively new Linux user.
You've got Linux installed, you've
managed to log in, do some web browsing, send and receive email,
and—now what? Although you can handle some of the basics, you
feel like you're flying blind: you know
you've got lots of really powerful stuff at your
fingertips, or at least so your Linux guru friend told you, but how
do you make it do tricks? What's there, and how does
it work? What's this thing called grep that
they're always talking about? How do you Samba? And
where's the #$%^ documentation?

The Linux-Unix world is abundantly documented. No, really! You can
always find an answer, if you know where to look. The problem, of
course, is knowing where to look. There are man pages, info pages,
READMEs, HTML manuals, and the code itself. You
don't have to be a programmer to unearth useful bits
in source code, because the comments often tell you what you need to
know.

There are thousands upon thousands of online communities, one (or
more) surrounding nearly every bit of software in the Linux universe.
Nearly every program, no matter how small, has its own user mailing
list. Every Linux distribution has its own mailing lists and user
forums. There are forums and lists and Usenet groups for every
computing subject under the sun.

And of course there are books and magazines of every description. So
the real problem with Linux documentation is not the lack of it, but
finding the bits you need without having to embark on a lengthy,
heroic quest.